Like your dearest loved one, delicious food deserves to be clutched, cradled, and held close to your chest. We've always thought that dinner tastes better (and stays a hell of a lot hotter) with ingredients piled in together, and it appears the foodie fashionistas now agree.

The symbolism of the bowl

Okay, so this isn't exactly leftfield dinnerware and while this may just seem like a bit of a fad, it does point towards an overarching theme going on in the food world; exceptional food doesn't have to be exclusive to fine dining restaurants - it can be found anywhere.

2016 saw a $1 Noodle Bar in Hong Kong awarded a Michelin Star and other street food venues have also received international recognition for their food. The pomp has been taken out of food presentation in preference for flavour. Something with a little more 'depth' to it.

Where can I get my hands on a bowl?

Luckily, 2017 cuisine is made for the bowl. From hot bowls of steaming pho and fresh nutritious salads, to adventurous flavour fusions that amalgamate worldwide ethnic cuisine. And some of the best independent places are on point, serving everything we ever wanted (and never expected) to be bowled-up together. So what will be served in bowls, and where?

Time to do Dirty Bowl Food

Perhaps most surprisingly, we'll find that aren't exclusive to dishes deemed 'healthy'. Even dirty-food-done-properly is made for bowls. What's better than a burger snuggled in a bun beside hot salty fries, plus a pickle just peeping out beneath? Plus any sauce spillage can be caught within the bowl depths, and no one will ever know.

Breakfast is going to go through a Bowl Evolution

In cultivated restaurants everywhere, the breakfast menu is gonna get a bump up, with brunches expanding and updated big time. Forget scrambled eggs and avocado on toast - the bigged-up breakfasts of 2017 will feature piles of hot food inspired by ethnic cuisine. From healthy rice breakfast pudding, to saucy shakshuka, you'll be able to fill up your vessel, and fill up on good stuff. Because breakfast is important.

More Soul in your Bowl: Comfort Food

Comfort food cuisine dominating menus everywhere, all this is made for gathering together in a deep, rounded dish. The move away from clean eating will be literal, as restaurants ditch the fancy plating of food and acknowledge the beauty in an amalgamation of gorgeous flavours and colours.

The rise & rise & rise of Asian Bowl Food

Bowls will hold the abundance of Korean cuisine set to explode in popularity this year. Japanese dishes such as ramen are made for bowl food, and our insatiable taste for salty umami goodness has meant that ramen bars are popping up all over the shop.

Fusion restaurants are even getting in on the act

Classic dishes will be deconstructed, combined and experimented with to make the most of this presentation style. You'll be encouraged to ditch the fine dining and get stuck in as you delve past the top layers to see what treats lie beneath.